call for

verb

To shout out in order to summon (a person).

“I leant out of the back door and called for Lucy.”

Meanings

verbcall for (third-person singular simple present calls for, present participle calling for, simple past and past participle called for)

present singular third person calls for · participle present calling for · participle past called for · past called for

  1. To shout out in order to summon (a person).

    I leant out of the back door and called for Lucy.

  2. To ask for in a loud voice.

    We finished the main course in short order and called for more wine.

  3. figurativelyTo request, demand.

    The government has called for an end to hostilities in the region.

    2 more examples

    In Juazeiro do Norte, demonstrators cornered the mayor inside a bank for hours and called for his impeachment, while thousands of others protested teachers’ salaries.

    2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Jun 2013

    In fact, he had called for the execution of Yun Chich'ung and Kwon Sangyon in 1791.

    2017 May 31, Don Baker, Franklin Rausch, Catholics and Anti-Catholicism in Choson Korea, page 93
  4. To necessitate, demand, exact; to make appropriate

    This situation calls for a high degree of courage.

    3 more examples

    Streams of Mercy never ceaſing, Call for Songs of loudeſt Praiſe:

    1759, Robert Robinson, “Hymn I”, in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the Church of Christ: Meeting in Angel-Alley, Whitechappel, Margaret-Street, near Oxford-Market, and other churches in fellowship with them, London

    This called for an immediate response. A factory-wide meeting was called, and the head of the Workers' Rebellion Organization announced that a "counter-revolutionary clique" was on the loose.

    2000, Yarong Jiang, David Ashley, Mao's Children in the New China: Voices From the Red Guard Generation, page 165

    I wasn't usually a big drinker but extenuating circumstances this week called for it.

    2017 April 25, Sarah Peis, Some Call It Love
  5. To stop at a place and ask for (someone).

    I'll call for you just after midday.

  6. USinformalTo anticipate, predict.

    The forecast calls for rain.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbexpress the need or desire for

verbrequest the participation or presence of

verbgather or collect

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Arabic دَعَا إِلَى
  • دَعَا إِلَى (daʕā ʔilā)to request, demand
Danish kalde på
  • kalde påto summon
Finnish kutsua, vaatia
  • kutsuato summon
  • vaatiato ask for (something) in loud voice
  • tulla käymäänto come to a place to ask for (someone)
  • vaatiato request, demand
  • vaatiato necessitate, demand
French appeler, demander
  • appelerto summon
  • demanderto ask for (something) in loud voice
  • commanderto ask for (something) in loud voice
  • passerto come to a place to ask for (someone)
  • demanderto request, demand
  • exigerto necessitate, demand
  • nécessiterto necessitate, demand
Hungarian hív, követel
  • hívto summon
  • követelto request, demand
  • felhívto request, demand
  • igényelto necessitate, demand
  • kívánto necessitate, demand
  • megkívánto necessitate, demand
  • követelto necessitate, demand
Latin acciō
  • acciōto summon
Portuguese chamar, exigir
  • chamarto summon
  • exigirto necessitate, demand
Spanish llamar, recabar
  • llamarto summon
  • recabarto ask for (something) in loud voice
  • clamarto ask for (something) in loud voice
  • clamarto request, demand
  • recabarto request, demand
  • clamarto necessitate, demand
Zulu -biza, -biza
  • -bizato summon
  • -bizato ask for (something) in loud voice
  • -bizato request, demand
Cite this entry
APA

call for. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20for

MLA

“call for.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20for. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “call for,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20for.

Source: call for on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.